Quilting attachment for sewing-machines



(No Model.) 2 SheetS Sheet 1.

J. W. CLAYTON. QUILTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 482,467. Patented Sept. 13,1892.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. W. CLAYTON. QUILTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 482,467. Patented Sept. 13, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JOHN WVILLIAM CLAYTON, OF OI-IATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

QUILTING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 482,467, dated September 13, 1892.

Application filed April 26, 1892.

To otZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN WILLIAM CLAY- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented anew and useful QuiltingFrame, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in quilting-frames; and it consists in the construction and combination of the parts thereof, as will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of this invention is to provide a device of this character having a free movement in a horizontal plane and adjustable to adapt the same for fanciful or design stitching, and wherein the parts are connected in such manner as to be readily folded for storage or transportation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the quilting-frame, shown in position in connection with a sewing-machine arm. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line a; or, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 isadetailperspective view of the quilting-frame proper, shown detached. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the suspending-frame, shown disconnected and the parts thereof folded in dotted lines. Fig. 5 is a section on the line y y, Fig. 1, enlarged. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 2 a, Fig. 3.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a track-wire, which is connected at its opposite ends to hooks 2, suitably secured to opposite portions of a room and provided with a suitable tension attachment 3. On the said track-wire 1 is movably mounted a carriage, which consists of a beam 4, having grooved wheels 5, supported in vertical position on the upper sides of the ends thereof by standards 6. A supporting-frame is pivotally secured to the said carriage and consists of a horizontal beam 7, and through the central portion thereof extends a bolt or pintle S, projecting from the beam at of the carriage. Between the beams i and 7 and fitted around the bolt or pintle 8 is a washer 9, which slightly separates the two beams 4 and 7 and takes up the wear upon the same. Extending through the beam 7 from the bottom to Serial No. 430,696. (No model.)

the top thereof are set-screws 10, which are disposed on opposite sides of the bolt or pintle 8 and are adapted to lock the suspendingframe against rotative movement when it is desired to run a straight seam.

To the ends of the beam 7 suspending-arms 11 are hinged, as at 12, and the lower ends of the said arms 11 are formed with a series of openings 13 for the purposes of attachment and adjustment, as will be more fully hereinafter set forth. These arms 11 normally stand at an oblique angle and are braced against the beveled ends 11 of the beam 7.

The quilting-frame is constructed with sectional end strips, which are formed in two parts 15 and 16, hinged at 17, so that the part 15 may be folded over on the part 16 at each end to provide a compact construction for storage or transportation. The parts 16 are rigidly connected by a cross-strip 18, and said parts 16 are formed with rear elevated extensions 19. Rollers 20, 21, and 22 are held between the end strips composed of the parts 15 and 16, the roller 20 being carried by the parts 15 and the rollers 21 and 22 by the parts 16. One end of each of the rollers 20 and 21 is pivotally, but not removably, connected, respectively, to the parts 15 and 16 of one end strip, and the opposite ends of said rollers are removably fitted in slots 23 and 24, formed in the opposite parts 15 and 16 of the other end strip and held in connection with said slots by removable pins or keys 25. The roller 22 is journaled in a suitable manner, but is not adjustable, and is formed with a series of points or spurs 26, adapted to take into portions of the quilt being operated upon to regulate the tension thereof and obviate slack therein. The ends of the several rollers are provided with ratchet-teeth 27, which are engaged by adjacently-situated pawls 28 in order to sustain the adjustment of these rollers for evident purposes. To the parts 16 over the brace or strip 18 are secured hinged arms 29, having a series of holes 30 therein, which are adapted to align with the holes 13 in the arms 11 of the suspendingframe for the pur-.

pose of connecting the quilting-frame proper to the said suspending-frame, and through the medium of the series of holes 30 the elevation of the quilting-frame may be controlled to adjust the same to various heights of machine-tables or sewing-machine arms. The rear elevated extensions 19 are formed in connection with the parts 16 of the end strips or bars in order to elevate the outside roller 21 sufficiently to bring the top of the quilt to bear on the pins, teeth, or spurs of the roller or bar 22, and thereby cause the teeth, spurs, or pins to engage the quilt and stretch and hold the slack cloth which results from rolling the unfinished quilt. Through the medium of the swiveled or pivoted connection between the carriage and the suspendingframe itadapts the attachment foruse in working up fanciful designs of whatever nature may be desired, and when it is necessary to run a straight seam the set-screws are brought into play to secure the suspendingframe to the carriage and tightly hold the parts against movement. The quilting-frame is placed under the arm of a sewing-machine, which occupies a position between the roller and the strip or brace 18. This positionin g of the quilting-frame may be accomplished readily in view of the construction set forth, and by the movement, either laterally or slightly angular, the stitching may be manipulated, as desired, to form scrolls, curves, or writing, and the several parts may be adjusted for straight stitching, as has been set forth. The hinges connecting the parts 15 and 16 of the end strips or bars are for the purpose of folding the quilting-frame While the same is hanging, and thereby causing the same to occupy a small space in a room in which it may be located.

proper connected to said suspending-frame,

and set screws in said suspending-frame adapted to engage the carriage for the purpose of holding the quilting-frame in rigid adjustment for straight-runnin g stitches, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character set forth, the combination of a carriage, a suspending-frame having an upper beam movably connected to said carriage, obliquely-arranged arms hinged at their upper ends to the ends of said beam and having a series of openings extending through the lower portion of each, a folding quilting-frame supporting rollers and having plates hinged to the centers of the end strips thereof, said plates having a series of openings in their free ends, and removable pins adapted to be inserted through aligned openings of said plates and obliquely-arranged arms, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signaturein the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN WILLIAM CLAYTON.

Witnesses:

SAML. KA-UL, W. OT. BOWLING. 

